Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners

My rating:

add to my books

Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners

by Laura Claridge (Goodreads Author), Christine Williams (Narrator)

3.40 · rating details · 219 ratings · 79 reviews

“What would Emily Post do?” Even today, Americans cite the author of the perennial bestseller Etiquette as a touchstone for proper behavior. But who was the woman behind the myth, the authority on good manners who has outlasted all comers? Award-winning author Laura Claridge presents the first authoritative biography of the unforgettable woman who changed the mindset of mi...more“What would Emily Post do?” Even today, Americans cite the author of the perennial bestseller Etiquette as a touchstone for proper behavior. But who was the woman behind the myth, the authority on good manners who has outlasted all comers? Award-winning author Laura Claridge presents the first authoritative biography of the unforgettable woman who changed the mindset of millions of Americans, an engaging book that sweeps from the Gilded Age to the 1960s.

Born shortly after the Civil War, Emily Post was a daughter of high society, the only child of an ambitious Baltimore architect, Bruce Price, and his wellborn wife. Within a few years of his daughter’s birth, Price moved his family to New York City, where they mingled with the Roosevelts and the Astors as well as with the new crowd in town–J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt clan. Blossoming into one of Manhattan’s most sought-after debutantes, Emily went on to marry Edwin Post, planning to re-create in her own home the happiness she’d observed between her parents. Instead, she would find herself in the middle of a scandalous divorce, its humiliating details splashed across the front pages of New York newspapers for months.

Traumatic though it was, the end of her marriage forced Emily Post to become her own person. She would spend the next fifteen years writing novels and attending high-powered literary events alongside the likes of Mark Twain and Edith Wharton, but in middle age she decided she would try something different.

When it debuted in 1922 with a tiny first print run, Etiquette represented a fifty-year-old woman at her wisest–and a country at its wildest. Claridge
addresses the secret of Etiquette’s tremendous success and gives us a panoramic view of the culture from which Etiquette took its shape, as its author meticulously updated her book twice a decade to keep it consistent with America’s constantly changing social landscape.

A tireless advocate for middle-class and immigrant Americans, Emily Post became the emblem of a new kind of manners in which etiquette and ethics were forever entwined. Now, nearly fifty years after her death, we still feel her enormous influence on how we think Best Society should behave.(less)

MP3 CD, 2 pages

Published October 14th 2008 by Blackstone Audiobooks (first published 2008)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 606)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 05, 2008

Kirsten rated it

· review of another edition

This is an engaging portrait of Emily Post. Her life spanned the post-Civil War era to the Kennedy administration, and reflects many of the societal changes that took place in that era. I had no idea she was a novelist *and* amateur architect. (I will have to look for her novels.) The best sections are the first half (her childhood and youth) and the ones detailing her work on _Etiquette_; otherwise the book does tend (as biographies so often do) to get a little bogged down in superfluous de...more

like 1 like

· see review

Dec 02, 2009

Beth rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography

I haven't updated in a while, part of the reason is because I have been studying for my licensing exams and moving and so forth, but I finally took a break and read this biography of Emily Post, which I had been anticipating reading for quite some time.
Emily Post has always been a name synonymous with manners and etiquette, but Claridge, the authoress, delves deep into Post's life and brings forth to the reader a new dimension to a seemingly pigeonholed woman. Post's achievements as a fict...more

· see review

Mar 02, 2009

Catherine rated it

· review of another edition

I picked up this book solely due to my mother's ongoing complaints about her own mother's obsession on Emily Post's etiquette. Growing up, my mother received gentle reprimands on the proper Post way to spoon up soup or how it was more proper to say "glasses" rather than "cups." Needless to say, my mother scowled at me when I told her I was reading a bio on Emily Post.
This ended up being a decent enough biography though more than one sentence had a strange turn and more...more

· see review

Jan 08, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine rated it

· review of another edition

Despite her limited access to Emily Post�s personal papers, Laura Claridge does her best to bring Post to life against the ever-changing cultural landscape of the early 20th century. While the New York Times praised Claridge as an �exhaustive researcher,� other critics complained of the author�s frequent digressions and the glut of useless information: �Do we need the curtain time of the production in which Emily had a bit part at age 6?� bemoans the New York Times Book Review. Some critics also...more

· see review

Sep 15, 2011

Diann Blakely added it · review of another edition

For Emily Post, the best revenge may not have been writing well, but writing profitably. Humiliated by a scandal involving her husband, Post abandoned a none-too-successful career in writing fiction for penning advice columns on etiquette, a project that grew into a book that . . . grew. And sold. And sold. As the years went by, and times changed, Post democratized ETIQUETTE to make room for butler-, valet-, footman- and maid-less households where wives entertained, cooked and served guests them...more

· see review

Dec 05, 2008

Kay rated it

· review of another edition

The first chapter is a grabber -- sex, blackmail, headlines -- but then reverts to the standard grandparents-to-grave biography format. She lived in interesting times, but Emily herself was only a mildly interesting person (at least to me after reading this book). She fancied herself a novelist and her etiquette book was never her dream job but a topic suggested by her publisher. She became famous for it mostly because the distinctive blue cover bore only the title "Etiquette" and "...more

· see review

Mar 10, 2009

Emily rated it

· review of another edition

While the idea of etiquette is quaint for many today, little about the way Emily Post advised her readers was. Emily was the child of progressive, educated parents who supported her curiosity about the world. Her marriage ended in scandal and divorce, but from that, Emily supported herself as a working woman; first, as a writer of fiction, and later, as the arbiter of manners. As a divorced woman from one of New York's good families, Emily knew better than most how social mores change over time ...more

· see review

May 02, 2010

Kathy rated it

· review of another edition

I am glad I read this book, in that I learned something about how womens' roles changed as America progressed from the Gilded Age to Post WWII. It also prompted me to reexamine principles of ettique and my own practice of good manners. The book was, though, a bit tedious and muddled, somehow. The author did not consistently employ a smooth, flowing narrative. I don't know, maybe that is hard to accompoish when doing a biography of this sort. I would recommend the book, but warn that you mig...more

· see review

Jun 06, 2009

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

Emily Post Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of Manners came into my life on a whim. I clearly judged the book by the cover. I wasn’t particularly interested in Emily Post. Sure, I knew about the little Blue Book that had influence many generations in America. But I hadn’t given the author much thought, in spite of her name being, 50 years after her death, a household name. What drew me to the book was the cover. I absolutely loved the dress.

The photo is of Emily Price wearing th...moreEmily Post Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of Manners came into my life on a whim. I clearly judged the book by the cover. I wasn’t particularly interested in Emily Post. Sure, I knew about the little Blue Book that had influence many generations in America. But I hadn’t given the author much thought, in spite of her name being, 50 years after her death, a household name. What drew me to the book was the cover. I absolutely loved the dress.

The photo is of Emily Price wearing the most gorgeous dress. It was the dress she wore for her 1890 debutante ball and I fell in love with the 19 yards of fabric and lace.

Emily Price Post born seven years after the Civil War was raised an only child from a wealthy family who lived on the edges of the elite. Her father was from a well to do Maryland family. Her mother was from a wealthy Pennsylvania coal family. Her uncle was an interesting character into a variety of projects including the building of the Statue of Liberty. Emily played in the foundations of the status when she was a child, perhaps, a portent of her position in American culture as a foundation of social structure.

During her life time which spanned 80 + years, she saw the advent of the radio and television, transportation go from horse to auto and the launching of Sputnik, women’s vote, women’s rights and more.

Her personal acquaintanceships are the who’s who for many generations. Her personal accomplishments as a clothing designer, landscape designer, architect, interior designer, author, radio personality are impressive. Her family life lacked directly because of her need to work obsessively and to her own detriment. Her public persona of “just another working woman” got tiresome and I came to not like the older Emily Post.

Some fifty years after Mrs. Post’s passing her legacy fades because there are entire segments of the population who don’t have a dining room table and will never worry about which fork to use because they eat their food right out of the paper in which it’s wrapped.

But I still love that dress!
(less)

· see review

Jan 22, 2009

Bettye rated it

· review of another edition

I have had to struggle with this book. it is rather boring to me. i am a retired Reading teacher, and I always told my children not to ever give up on a book because you never know what id on the next page!! So, am following my own advice. I was raised in the South where manners are extremely important. I had to walk with Emily Post's book balanced on my head to improve my posture!! We had to memorize her from front to back. but this book doesn't give her justice or she just lived a dull lif...more

· see review

Apr 22, 2009

Steven rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography, culture, history

I remember Emily Post's Etiquette being listed among the essentials of a basic reference collection during a course I took back in my library school days. As a young 20-something, I remember wondering if Emily Post was even a real person. I also remember thinking I would probably never have to consult this book out in the "real world."

And, admittedly, I haven't really used it to answer questions on the reference desk. Turns out today's 20-somethings aren't all that interest...more

· see review

Sep 06, 2008

Emily rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2008

This book was an eerily good fit for a personal study of biographies I'm doing, so I was thrilled to get a copy through the Early Reviewers program. I found it to be an engaging, well-written study that strikes a good balance between specific detail about its subject, and contextual detail about the social and national milieu in which she moved. I also found the subject, Emily Post, to be a surprisingly sympathetic character - not that I expected to dislike her, but I was impressed at the degree...moreThis book was an eerily good fit for a personal study of biographies I'm doing, so I was thrilled to get a copy through the Early Reviewers program. I found it to be an engaging, well-written study that strikes a good balance between specific detail about its subject, and contextual detail about the social and national milieu in which she moved. I also found the subject, Emily Post, to be a surprisingly sympathetic character - not that I expected to dislike her, but I was impressed at the degree to which I related to her. Her appreciation for the small details of daily life is something I share in spades, and her concern with using etiquette to ease the way for other people, rather than to shame them, is admirable.

Especially fascinating to me is Claridge's examination of the revisions to *Etiquette* over the span of almost forty years, and how the revision process changed Emily Post herself. Born to extreme privilege in New York City, a debutante during the Gilded Age, Post wrote the original 1922 edition of *Etiquette* with people like herself in mind. After its publication and success, she was inundated with letters from a wide cross-section of the American population, including recent immigrants, working- and middle-class readers, all wanting to know her advice on issues she had originally not thought to include: how to throw a dinner party if one hasn't any servants, for example, or how courtship conduct is changed for women who have joined the workforce. With successive revisions, Post adapted *Etiquette* to suit her changing understanding of her audience, as well as the changing mores of the times. Claridge knows that she's up against a popular idea of Emily Post as a petty, hard-nosed bluestocking, dispensing Thou Shalt Not's from on high, and she presents a strong case that this is a huge misconception. From the beginning, Post prioritized manners as a tool for kindness, ease and compassion, rather than an end in itself. She always insisted that telling people which fork to use held no interest whatsoever for her. But what is most striking to me is the way in which her book, which became the go-to reference on conduct for so many people, actually widened her own experience so drastically by bringing her into contact with a diversity of Americans outside her normal social sphere. The mutual process of change and adaptation is intriguing, and Claridge does a good job of tracing the differences in successive incarnations of *Etiquette*, as well as the changes in Emily Post herself.

Also surprising is Emily Post’s determined sympathy with the freer manners and customs that emerged in the early twentieth century. Claridge writes at length about the long-term affects on Post of her ill-advised marriage and scandalous divorce, and goes on to examine how those experiences affected her attitudes toward courtship and marriage in general. Her own marriage deteriorated because she and her husband were not allowed to *know* each other in any significant way prior to their wedding, to build sympathy or trust. Understandably, then, she became embittered against overly strict conventions around courtship and “protecting the innocence” of young ladies – an innocence which would come crashing around their ears immediately upon marriage. She was thrilled when social customs began to loosen, in the 1910’s and 20’s, and implored modern parents to let their children spend time together unchaperoned, even if doing so seemed improper or scandalous by the rules of their own upbringing. Much to Emily Post’s own satisfaction, her chapters on chaperonage in *Etiquette* began with detailing the necessity of a chaperone, and progressed to treating this as a “vanished custom.” Not one to cling to the old ways for their own sake, Post is portrayed as a flexible, engaged member of her own culture, who created a chronicle of changing social expectations over half a century. Claridge’s portrait is fascinating and readable, and introduced me to a formidable figure of the early twentieth century, whose importance I had never before stopped to consider.(less)

· see review

Jan 22, 2012

Pat rated it

· review of another edition

What an amazing woman so far ahead of her times! Not content to spend her life following her husband's endless sailing or following her friends in their pursuit of the gilded life in the Gilded Age. She blazed the trail that her father introduced her to as an independent woman who loved being in charge. You will be amazed at what she accomplished besides writing her famous Etiquette book that was at one point the most referenced book in the world. A well researched, excellent "read"...more

· see review

Nov 11, 2011

Amblingbooks.com marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: available-on-audio, biography

"Claridge is becoming the sort of biographer readers will follow anywhere....this [is the] absorbing study of a keenly perceptive ethicist second only to Eleanor Roosevelt in the immensity of her influence....Claridge greatly deepens our appreciation for Post's achievements and brings forward the impressive woman behind the do's and don'ts." - Booklist (starred review)

Listen to Emily Post on your smartphone.

· see review

Jun 14, 2011

N. Lafave rated it

· review of another edition

The book was intersting, it went on a little longer than it should. Learn all kinds of interesting things, facts and details of the world Emily Post lived it. It was a story told style history lesson. After finishing the book, I went on the Google and looked up many topics and places discussed. It certainly gave a different view of EM than I had ever considered. Listened to it on tape, they was much detail and might have made reading tedious. Recommend the book (CD) highly.

· see review

Jan 04, 2010

Karen Powell added it · review of another edition

Highly detailed, this extensive biography demands a lot of attention. It seems no stone, family member, or acquaintance is left unturned. A few times it became too much and I put it aside for other readings. However, Post enthusiasts will find this book well-researched and highly imaginative enough to catapult them into their heroine's society.

· see review

Apr 29, 2010

Courtney rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-latest

I really enjoyed this book - I learned so much about Emily Post and the environment in which she grew up. All of it was interesting, but in particular the chapters on her writing the etiquette manuals and how they changed over time. I think the current volumes really lost her special twist (her writing was hilarious and accessible).

· see review

Jan 06, 2009

J rated it

· review of another edition

Easily the best thing I read in 2008. Normally I dislike works this long (500+ pages), but who knew this one woman's life contained so much history? Her father was a famous architect (worked on the base of the Statue of Liberty), her family friends founded Tuxedo Park--for those who like New York history, this is wonderful.

· see review

May 23, 2009

Evelyn rated it

· review of another edition

The backdrop of Emily Post's life was an interesting way to learn about early 20th-century America. It was as much a history book as a biography. It got a little dry in parts, but was still well worth my time. As a sidelight, I discovered that Emily and I are both descendants of Pilgrims John and Priscilla Alden. Small world.

· see review

Mar 05, 2009

Anne rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

I wish there was a 2.5 star rating. Part of the fault lies with me. I always get suckered in by biographies, but I don't like them all that much. This book starts with a detailed examination of Emily Post's parents life, her husband's life, and the age in which she grew up. When I was reading that, I couldn't wait to get to the point at which she wrote Etiquette . When I finally got to that point, the book became more of a list of accomplishments. The narrative also was confusing at times, one ...more

· see review

Dec 29, 2008

Beth rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biographies_memoirs, nonfiction

A really well-written, well-researched biography. I appreciated Claridge's efforts to show the complexity of Post's philosophy of etiquette and the author's highlighting of the media coverage and treatment of Post and her work as having often missed the point or simplified what her book and its many editions were trying to do. Claridge argues that Post was careful to update her book over the years (1922 to late 1950s) to reflect the changing mores and her own growing awareness of things like eco...more

· see review

Apr 28, 2009

Judy rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone interested in American history

Recommended to Judy by: bookclub

Had mixed feelings about this biography at first - it didn't seem to be about Emily herself - but then I realized all the "history" of the people and the age is what made her what she was. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a great deal of American history and the society of all walks of life. She was quite an open-minded woman who learned as she aged and grew with it. I didn't realize what a celebrity she was for all of her long life and the influence she had on all of us. Well worth...more

· see review

Feb 13, 2010

Ryan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: new-york, books-i-just-could-not-finish

So I think there's a reason that I was never remotely interested in Emily Post's Rules of Etiquette. I only picked this up because the intro regarding her public humiliation over her husband affairs was so interesting, but it's not worth slugging through 400+ pages of prissy, daddy-obsessed Emily to get there. I just kept falling asleep too much while reading.

· see review

Jul 25, 2009

Austensibly added it · review of another edition

Interesting biography of a woman who witnessed great changes in American society and manners and wisely chronicled them. I do think the author would like to ascribe more aspects of feminism to Post than she probably possessed, but it is still a very entertaining read.

· see review

Jul 07, 2009

christina rated it

· review of another edition

A fascinating, amazingly well-researched social history of a woman's life spanning a time of massive cultural change. Emily Post was not at all prim + prissy. She survived divorce (1906) by launching herself first as a novelist and then a global etiquette brand.

· see review

Mar 06, 2011

Sarah Fowler rated it

· review of another edition

Emily Post was born in 1871 and did not die until 1960! Needless to say, she was witness to quite a lot. It's an interesting book that's more a portrait of the age and society in which she lived than the woman herself. She rubbed some impressive shoulders and the book is impeccably researched. Read it as a chunk of American history.

· see review

Aug 29, 2010

Janet Barton rated it

· review of another edition

This is actually one of the first full biographies I have read, and I found it very interesting. This is one of my favorite time periods to study, and the author did a great job of providing historical background.

· see review

Mar 04, 2009

Sheila rated it

· review of another edition

I had no idea that Emily Post was a daughter of the Gilded Age, nor that she was well known for her architectural work. What a talented and independent woman! Now I want to read her etiquette books...

· see review

May 06, 2010

Jim rated it

· review of another edition

I'm finding Emily's life and times fascinating - she was one busy lady - and even more than just a chronicle, Ms. Claridge brings the age to light and reveals the society of the era to be more three dimensional and human than we're used to seeing from movies about the Gilded Age, and Emily lives well beyond it and into the 20th century. It's especially interesting to see the evolution of society and morals as time marches on, money changes hands and the 'rules' with them.

The lively...more

· see review

Jun 05, 2009

Jill rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography

I love biographies,love the Gilded Age scene and, believe it or not, have one of Emily Post's early etiquette books, bequeathed to me from my grandmother. Frankly, it is a better read that this biography. The first half was fairly interesting as it went into detail about the early years of Mrs. Post's life in the age of sevants,formal teas, and limitless wealth But like the majority of other reviewers, I found that the second half of the book really started to drag and I found my attention wa...more

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 20 21 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (8)

More editions...

Genres

Biography

21 users

Non Fiction

15 users

History

7 users

Book Club

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Laura Claridge

Since the early 1990s, Laura Claridge has authored several books, ranging from feminist theory to biography and popular culture of the 20th Century. Formerly an English professor, she has written Norman Rockwell: A Life (Random House/Modern Library 2001/2003) and Tamara de Lempicka: A Life of Deco and Decadence (Bloomsbury 2001/2003 [paperback] and Clarkson Potter/Crown/Random House 1999). Her ...more

More about Laura Claridge...

Books by Laura Claridge

Out of Bounds: Male Writers and Gender(ed) Criticism

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Emily Post: Daugh...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners
avg rating	preview: Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners Goodreads rating: 3.40 (219 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6098584-emily-post?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266508751m/6098584.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6098584-emily-post?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners by Laura Claridge[/url]

Emily Post: Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combine Other Editions (8)

Genres

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Laura Claridge

Books by Laura Claridge

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Emily Post: Daugh...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (8)